David Cameron described the UK economy's latest growth figures of 0.2% as "positive" as he gave his backing to the chancellor, George Osborne.

The prime minister responded to the GDP figure for the past three months after Labour called for the government to "change course" over the economy "before it is too late".

Cameron said both he and Osborne were "working together to make sure the economy is growing", but warned it would "take time" to produce the required growth in jobs.

Commenting on the figures, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Cameron sought to quash rumours that Downing Street was becoming frustrated at the lack of growth in the economy by defending Osborne's deficit reduction plan.

He said Britain was showing "some stability in a very uncertain world" thanks to the chancellor's management of the economy.

"All over the world, countries are struggling with debts and with deficits, and here in Britain, because we are getting on top of those debts, on top of the deficit, we see interest rates low and we see the ability for our economy to grow," he added.

"Clearly it's going to take time to make sure that we produce the growth in jobs to make sure that we really strengthen our economy, but we should be positive about today's news."

Cameron echoed Osborne's tone earlier in the day – an upbeat assessment that prompted the shadow chancellor, Ed Balls, to accuse Osborne of being "breathtakingly complacent".

The pace of recovery is lower than the 0.5% growth in the first three months of this year, an outcome the ONS said was heavily influenced by one-off factors such as the additional bank holiday for the royal wedding, the wedding itself, the first phase of Olympic ticket sales, record warm weather in April and the aftermath of the Japanese tsunami.

The impact of these factors knocked up to 0.5% off the GDP figure, which otherwise may have shown growth of 0.7%, the ONS chief economist, Joe Grice, said.

Osborne said the figures showed Britain was a "safe haven" in a storm of "international instability".

"The positive news is that the British economy is continuing to grow and is creating jobs," he said.

"And it is positive news too that, at a time of real international instability, we are a safe haven in the storm. Our economy is stable at this time because this government has taken the difficult decisions to get to grips with Britain's debts.

"Abandoning that now, as some argue we should, would only risk British jobs and growth."

Asked about accusations that government cuts were going too far, too fast, Osborne insisted that the "whole government is absolutely committed" to his plan to deal with Britain's debt.

Balls seized on the figures as proof that the recovery had been "recklessly choked off" by Osborne's VAT rise and spending review.

"The economy has effectively flatlined for nine months, and this is very bad news for jobs, living standards, business investment and for getting the deficit down," he said.

He claimed Osborne was "in total denial" and urged him to "change course before it is too late" rather than ploughing on with "a reckless gamble which doesn't seem to be working".

Balls said: "Instead of clutching at excuses like too much snow in winter and too much sun in the spring, George Osborne needs to realise he only has himself to blame for the choices he made a year ago.

"It's now almost certain that George Osborne's growth forecasts will be revised down for a fourth time, which will mean government borrowing is revised up once again."

Vince Cable, the business secretary, admitted the growth was "not spectacular", but said this was not surprising because of the issues the government was dealing with, such as the "aftershocks of the banking crisis and the recession".

But he said: "The government has made it very clear that we have got a very determined plan which we are sticking to to eliminate the structural deficit over the period of the parliament.

"There is no need for a plan B. We have to stick to the deficit reduction commitments."

Any additional stimulus to the economy would have to come through monetary policy, he said.

The TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, said the GDP figures showed that the private sector was not growing as Osborne had hoped.

"The detail in the figures is even more worrying," said Barber. "There is no sign of an export-led recovery, with productive industries falling by 1.4%, and the cuts are now beginning to bite as the government made no contribution to growth last quarter.

"The big worry must be that we are now trapped in a stagnant economy with such damage done to both business and consumer confidence that growth – which provides the only real long-term solution to the deficit – is receding into the distant future."

Ian McCafferty, the chief economic adviser at the CBI, said it was clear that the underlying economic recovery remained "fragile and difficult".